Easter

Big Bunny's Spring Fling starts today, March 31 through April 4 from 11 am-3 pm at the San Francisco Zoo. Bring the family to celebrate all things that hop, skip, jump, and eat carrots! There will be live entertainment, bunnies to see and photos with a costumed bunny, games and arts and crafts. All activities are free with paid Zoo admission. Also, the Zoo will offer one free child's admission with one paid adult for kids ages 4 to 14 who bring along their favorite plush bunny.

Schedule:

• 10 am Zoo opens
• 10:30 am Puppet Art Theater Co.
• 11 am ARC presentation
• 12 pm Francie Dillon
• 1 pm Puppet Art Theater Co.
• 2 pm ARC presentation
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My children love this time of year when the Easter bunny comes to town. Part of the fun is celebrating spring and the Easter season with a traditional egg hunt. This year there are Easter egg hunts scheduled at communities throughout Marin. We'll update this list as we find out about additional events. If we've left out your favorite Marin Easter egg hunt, please let us know and we'll add it to the roster.

Please visit the appropriate links or call organizers for more info, if available, and directions.

While your kids are waiting for the big day, they can visit the Easter Bunny and have their picture taken with him at his whimsical spring house at Northgate Mall in Terra Linda. He'll be there Monday–Saturday from 11 am–8 pm through April 3. More information here.

Belvedere

• The Belvedere Community Center is hosting an Easter Bunny Brunch on Saturday, April 3 from 10 am-noon for $15 per person (3 and under free). There will be a brunch, Easter crafts, music, face painting, carnival games, and an Easter Egg Hunt. Easter Egg Hunt will take place in the playground after the brunch and the children will be grouped by ages. To purchase tickets, call the recreation office at (415) 435-4355. For more info, go to their website.

Corte Madera

• Corte Madera Parks & Recreation's Children's Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 3 at 10 am sharp at the Corte Madera Town Park. Juggler to follow egg hunt. For more info, call (415) 927-5073.

• Easter Bunny Breakfast will take place at The Cheesecake Factory in Corte Madera on Saturday, April 3 from 9:00 am-10:00 am. Guests are asked to bring a cash donation of $4 per child to benefit the Jeannette Prandi Childen's Center. Children of all ages will enjoy meeting the Easter Bunny, listening to Miraflores Academie Flute Choir, balloon animals, and face painting. Breakfast will include eggs, hash browns, bacon, fruit and choice of beverage. Please call the Concierge at (415) 924-8921 to RSVP by Monday, March 29. Space is limited.

Fairfax

• Fairfax's annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place in Bolinas Park at 10:00 am-noon on Saturday, April 3. Music will be provided by James K. and will take place rain or shine.  For more information please call 456-5652.

Mill Valley

• The Mill Valley Community Center will have a Teen Zone Flashlight Egg Hunt for 6th thru 8th grades on Friday, March 26, from 7–9 pm. The night will start with dinner and games, then we will take out our flashlights and we're off for the great hunt!! If you find Golden Eggs you will receive special prizes! You can register for the hunt at the Mill Valley Community Center or their online registration using course #18510. The deadline for registration is March 19. The cost is $15 for TZ members or $19 for non-TZ members.
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In case you haven't picked up one of those Easter egg coloring kits from the store yet, never fear—there are ways of coloring your eggs using stuff you may already have around the house, including natural dyes that you may never have thought of! A friend of mine passed on a great post from the website iLunchBox that goes over alternative egg dying methods. One suggestion is to use the plain old food coloring that you may or may not have in your cupboard. Mixing different combinations of blue, yellow, and red will give you just about any color imaginable.

If food coloring' not your thing, then uing a natural ingredient for dye, such as spinach or grass for green, turmeric for yellow, or even red wine or red wine vinegar for a red color. Read the article here for more Easter egg tips.

Easter is going to be here soon, and it always feels like we participate in at least half a dozen Easter egg hunts. This is probably because we actually do! Since it's a special occasion, I've made sure the children have nice, quality Easter baskets that they can use for a few years, and perhaps even keep as mementos of their childhoods. I really love the stuff offered by Pottery Barn Kids, (and who doesn't?), but I don’t always love the price tag that comes with it.

The other day, quite coincidentally, I received both the Pottery Barn Kids and the Lillian Vernon catalogues in the mail and noticed that they both offered very similar personalized Easter baskets at very different prices.